abrdn plc Buys 109,778 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

abrdn plc lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 43.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 361,391 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 109,778 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc owned approximately 0.06% of Progressive worth $57,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 109.1% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 207 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 143.6% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. HSBC lifted their target price on Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.88.

Progressive Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $214.69 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $125.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $111.41 and a 12-month high of $215.18. The business’s 50 day moving average is $199.92 and its 200 day moving average is $175.58.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.